A very cool, customizable game that does the best job at emulating the Guitar Hero games on the PC thus far.
When you go to start up the game, there isn't much explanation of how the game is played (unless you count the "tutorial", which is more of a joke than anything and a sample of what you can do with the game). So, least to say, the game just kind of assumes you know the Guitar Hero formula. If you don't, you should really read one of the three GameSpot reviews for the Guitar Hero games. The game sort of lags if there are a lot of notes on screen, which is kind of disappointing, but the game has progressed a lot since its incarnation (it is a work-in-progress, like most of these projects tend to be).
The game lets you import the Guitar Hero 1 and 2 songs from the PS2 DVD's, which is really awesome. The only downside is that it takes 8+ hours to rip. Yeah, it is ridiculous. Thankfully, there are rips out there. If you sign up at the Frets on Fire forums, you can go to "Tune Tradin'" and download people's rips so you don't have to go through all of the pain of ripping your own from DVD. Of course, there is also other songs people made, too. It is virtually infinite on all the songs you can make. It even comes with its own song editor so you don't even have to download any separate programs.
The gameplay is very solid. Hammer-ons and pull-offs are all executed well like the Guitar Hero games. The only bad thing is that the game sometimes seems to not register your strums which can be kind of frustrating. Otherwise, it's the Guitar Hero's superb gameplay. 'Nuff said.
The graphics are pretty hokey, but get the job done. Lights flash and drums beat to the beats per minute of the song. It's neat, and it tries to emulate the feel of rocking out that Guitar Hero captured, but only it tries to with no band or rockers. Meh.
The sound tends to crackle in some spots, but overall it holds up fine. It's also neat that you can import GH songs and also make your own. Nice.
The value is obviously high because you aren't going to be shelling out any money for this game. The only downside is that, out of playing the song, there is nothing else for you to do. Think of it as just the "quickplay" of GH. Oh yeah, there is also online leaderboards you can upload your high scores to on the site. Nice touch!
I really enjoy this game and it is a nice way to be able to play the game without going out and buying the game. If you like FoF go and buy GH!! Recommended to all rhythm video game fans!! Heck, to anybody! Go and download it, Now!!!